America has super-sized

Globe and Mail ^ | Feb. 19, 2004 | ALAN FREEMAN

[Asclepius]

When it costs you $100 (Canadian) to fill your gas tank ...

Say what?!

[PeteFromMontana]

That was too easy

[Gabz]

Spare me..............

Sheesh. I moved out of the city in order to be able to go out and walk around or do things outdoors with my 5 year old without being afraid of getting run over or gunned down....

[okie01]

"All of this just confirmed a pet theory of mine, that the problem in America is that food and gas are simply too cheap."

Spoken like a true socialist.

Keep the peasants poor and save all the good stuff for us liberal elite.

If he only realized how idiotic that sentence truly is...

[demlosers]

Spoken like a true socialist.

If he only realized how idiotic that sentence truly is...

Yup, the wrong answer.

[Triple Word Score]

I'm convinced that the reason the Atkins diet is popular is not because it forces people to eat fewer carbohydrates but because you can eat as many 40-ounce Porterhouse steaks as you want.

That's a LIE. Portion control is part of Atkins, too, and there is an emphasis on nutrition and vegetables.

I speak as someone who is starting Weight Watchers online. Many of us carry the genes of ancestors who managed to survive famines that thinned the ranks of the naturally skinny. We have efficient metabolisms. We could get by on minimal calories every day because we were bred to store as much energy as we can and burn as little as possible--to survive hard times. Decades of unprecedented plenty may kill us--for the moment, the evolutionary advantage is tilting marginally toward those who smugly proclaim that they have natural "self control" or acquired "discipline" when it comes to food. No. It's genetic, and it's very difficult to overcome your heredity on something as fundamental as metabolism.

Bulemia. Ask your doctor if it might be right for you....

[PAR35]

I've never bought gas in England, but in Germany it runs about 4 or 5 Euro a gallon - say $8 Canadian Dollars. 12 (US) gallons at a fill up would be close to $100 Canadian.

[writer33]

"It probably dates me but I still remember when the classic Coca-Cola bottle contained 6½ ounces of the stuff and the new king-size bottles were a generous 10 ounces. Who could drink 20 ounces of carbonated brown syrup in one go and not explode? Looking around me, I soon realized that 292 million Americans do it every day and think nothing of it."

20 ounces of soda is small. And yes, I can pig out if I choose. The question seems to be, why are we even writing this worthless article? Go report some real news.

[Praxeologue]

The Globe and Mail should henceforth require this reporter to use public transportation, and his own propulsion, on all company business.

... another socialist Canadian hypocrite

[dayton law dude]

In a sense, I agree with the author. For some reason, we Americans are obsessed with always having things bigger and more powerful. My neighbors are classic examples. And these two families hate each other. I guess our house is kind of the "buffer zone." Anyway, the neighbors on out left came home one day with a brand new Chevy Suburban. A few weeks later, the neighbors on our right came home with a brand new Hummer. I mean, I honestly see no point why anyone, save for those who live in severly mountanious terrain, need such a monster automobile. Do Hummers really have a point other than to use up ungodly amounts of gasoline and block my view of the road ahead?

[Age of Reason]

I've never bought gas in England, but in Germany it runs about 4 or 5 Euro a gallon - say $8 Canadian Dollars. 12 (US) gallons at a fill up would be close to $100 Canadian.

I believe that's because gasoline is highly taxed in Europe.

That could be a good idea for the U.S., too.

Americans do waste huge amounts of fuel (commonly called, 'energy'); placing a high tax on gasoline would encourage wiser use of fuel.

So, I'd be for a high tax on gasoline.

But with one provision: that the additonal tax so collected, is returned in the form of an income tax rebate to those people who conserve fuel.

[Schattie]

Just another luddite who wants us all to live like it's 1902 (or even better 1802) and cram into tenements and walk down to the corner store and listen to our neighbors arguing all night in a tightly packed neighborhood.

Americans like room and space. It's a natural human desire. There is no way that cramming into cities is healthy, living in suburban nature (not real nature, admittedly) is just more healthy than cramming into dense cities... there was a NY Times article on this a few months ago.

On the other hand, some people like crowded cities, so for that we have one of the most crowded cities in the world: NYC. As for his comment on mass transit, doesn't NYC subway system have the highest ridership in the world?

So some people like suburbs and some people like cities, and in America we think it's best to let people decide for themselves how they want to live.

[Schattie]

Remember... that's a good thing! ;)

[Age of Reason]

So basically, if your neighbor wastes huge amounts of gasoline in his gas guzzling car, the government collects extra $$ from him, and then gives those $$ to you for conserving fuel.

[Schattie]

Paying more for gas = lower standard of living. No thanks and I think most Americans would agree with me.

[Arpege92]

"....why are we even writing this worthless article? Go report some real news."

That's exactly what I was thinking. Sounds like this person was having a difficult time finding a story good enough to smear Americans and all IT came up with was large soda containers?

[Age of Reason]

Now if people want to eat like pigs, sit on their butts, and get fat--why should I care?

[Age of Reason]

Paying more for gas = lower standard of living

Why?

[Schattie]

If anything, it shows American prosperity. Too much prosperity perhaps. But it's bizarre that that's a problem.

In some countries they have to pick through garbage to eat.